Reboot
by Mage-Alia
Summary: AU - Shepard died, one day in the future, and somehow managed to wake up, right back at the beginning... A 'What if' where Commander Shepard remembered the last Play through...
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Mass Effect or any of its sequels. Unfortunately, it's all Bioware's stuff. *sulks*<p>

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><p>Reboot<p>

By: Mage-Alia

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><p>Summary: ONESHOT AU- Shepard died, one day in the future, and somehow managed to wake up, right back at the beginning... A 'What if' where Commander Shepard remembered the last Play through...<p>

Implied femshep/Kaiden relationship.

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><p>"GAH!"<p>

The involuntary scream tore from her throat as she started awake and only a lifetime of sleeping in the standard pods of ships kept her from slamming her head against the plexiglass. Her breath was heavy as she looked around wildly. Pulling the lever that opened the hatch she spilled out onto the walkway, going to her knees and gasping for breath like she'd been drowning.

Not far away, two crew members hastily made themselves scarce as they realised that they were staring at a half dressed commanding officer.

Aurora looked down at herself, realising that she was in nothing but standard issue underwear groped for the locker beside the pod and pulled out the first thing to come to hand.

Her amour.

Struggling into the green Heavy Mantis amour she snapped all the locks into place, securing her weapons in their catches before she even felt remotely comforted. Looking around she made sure no one else was in view before she curled into a foetal position and fought the urge to cry. The dream... if it even was one, had felt so real. Pain, joy, hope, despair... there had been many things to feel, and it had all felt as though it had happened to her. The ending... it had shaken her to her core...

After a long moment someone finally shuffled into the area and she uncurled, getting to her feet and setting her expression into one of determination before she started to make her way to the bridge. It was then, walking through the mess that she realised with a feeling of stunned certainty that something was wrong... Barkley wasn't at the kitchen... there wasn't even a kitchen for that matter. Instead there was a single terminal and a workstation half covered in electronic parts...

No... oh god no.

With a greater sense of urgency she moved faster, almost running as she rounded the corner of the elevator and found stairs either side of it. Her breath coming faster with every step she climbed them, not waiting for the doors at the top to open all the way before she sidled out onto the CIC deck and froze solid.

No... no no no no no no no no...

Her mind screamed denials even as she took off at a jog. People scattered to avoid her as she ran, pressing themselves against workstations and she nearly bowled over Pressley in her hurry to reach the cockpit...

And if it wasn't the hat peeking over the pilot's chair that tipped her off, it was the very tall, very imposing figure standing behind him that brought her hurried steps to a complete halt.

Nihlus.

Her knees went weak as all the differences from the world she'd fallen asleep in and the one she'd awoken in finally smacked her in the face. Fighting to bring her breathing under control she strode over to the empty terminal on Joker's left and sat down, ignoring the looks she got from the others as she brought up screens, her fingers flying across the keys in front of her as she found a news site and checked the date.

It was the day of their arrival on Eden Prime.

The day everything went to hell.

A few clicks closed everything and she sat back in her seat, making no move to acknowledge Joker as he looked over from his terminal.

"Shepard?" He asked, uncertain. She was dangerously aware of all the eyes on her. Nihlus, Joker...

Kaiden.

Finally, she turned her head and nodded to him, her face stoically blank.

"Joker." She greeted him, finally swinging herself out of the seat to take up her position behind him. Joker's eyes followed her until he couldn't turn in his seat anymore to see her. When he shrugged and went back to his work Shepard felt like she was watching a movie. Standing there and hearing everything play out just as it had before felt almost surreal.

"I hate that guy." She snapped out of her daze in time to hear Joker insult the retreating Turian. From the co-pilots seat Kaiden stared at him incredulously and Shepard found herself mouthing the words very softly under her breath.

"The man compliments you, so you hate him?"

"You go to the bathroom and remember to zip up your jumpsuit, that's good. I just catapulted us across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. That's incredible. Besides, what does a Spectre have to do with this thing anyway." Shepard's lip curled in a faint smile as she took her cue.

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs." She said and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kaiden's gaze flicker to her before he sighed and went back to his screen. Shepard stared at him from the corner of her eye. Kaiden...

Kaiden had been a sore point for a long time. After Saren... the collectors... their relationship had never been the same. They'd both been a little too damaged, a little to hurt...

But this Kaiden wasn't... and for that matter, neither was anyone else...

And suddenly the plans that her subconscious mind had been plotting clicked into place.

She felt so much better at the thought and by the time Anderson summoned her to the Briefing Room, she already had her first course of action planned out.

As expected, Nihlus was waiting for her. The Turian was facing the FTL communications array as she entered the room and it gave her a precious few seconds to think. How could she do this? How would she convince him that he was going to die in a few hours? Her brow furrowed as she approached him and when he turned, she still looked thoughtful.

"Ah, Shepard, I was hoping I'd get the chance to speak with you before Captain Anderson arrived." the words still felt like a script she'd read to spoil the vid.

"Waiting for me?" She answered in a sarcasm laced tone that simply slipped by while she wasn't paying attention, "Sorry, you shouldn't have. I've already got eyes for someone else." Nihlus looked at her for a long moment, his appearance thunderstruck before he finally threw his head back and laughed.

"Crude, Shepard." He said with a smirk. "I didn't take you for a Joker, I thought that was the Pilot's job." Shepard found herself grinning wryly at the sudden change.

"What can I say, I love seeing all those small faces light up at Christmas parties." It was a line Joker had... would use on her much later when she asked him about his nickname. Nihlus chuckled, clearly amused, dispelling the tension that had followed him around like a cloud the entire time he'd been on the vessel.

"You surprise me Shepard, but for a reason I can't begin to fathom, I like that." He admitted, turning back to a display he'd been looking at earlier that was showing an image of Eden Prime. "So, I've heard that you human's consider Eden Prime a paradise." Shepard raised an eyebrow, looking over the notes scrolling across the holographic screen.

"It's certainly got a view to remember." Nihlus smirked.

"Hmm, Eden Prime was a statement by the humans, that they could build a functioning colony in another system and actually defend it, was it not?" Shepard rolled her eyes.

"There is danger everywhere." She spoke the words coming out a little cynical even if the spirit of them wasn't. "Eden Prime was the first of many colonies. There's no illusion that something might happen, but humans might surprise you when it comes to survival." She'd worded her comment carefully, knowing that what she said now, might leave her with more credibility later... if she could manage to pull off another miraculous save.

"Hmmm..." Nihlus might have said something more, but their time was up and Anderson walked in, right on time.

They watched the feed from Eden Prime when joker interrupted them, and assembled in the cargo bay beside the Mako when they were ordered to battle stations. As Nihlus was dropped off first, Shepard nearly spoke out, telling him to come back and work with them, but she had no authority to even suggest it. Studiously ignoring the Lieutenant to her left as they jumped from the cargo doors, she checked her gun and took a moment to look at the achingly familiar landscapes before she turned toward the direction they'd need to move.

"Alright boys, we're gonna do this hard and fast. Keep moving and stay in cover when you can." Jenkins whooped, not minding the pace at all, Alenko just looked uncomfortable but nodded agreement as she pulled out her Assault Rifle and darted through a small crevice. Bodies of the Geth victims littered the ground, but instead of stopping to look like last time she forged onward. The area opened out onto a cliffside and before they could even look around Shepard ordered them both into cover before stepping around her own cover, lifting her rifle, and with an almost precognitive ability opened fire, making a small drone fall out of the tree where it had been waiting to ambush them. She span herself back into cover, slamming her back against the rocks as plasma bolts streaked into the space where she'd been standing moments before. Jenkins and Alenko took a few moments to realise what had happened before they joined her in returning fire at the remaining drones.

Her memories of the first casualty of the war with Saren and later the Reapers hadn't left her, even after all the years she'd spent simply forging forward. It had been burned into her brain. From the positions of the rocks providing cover, to the exact locations of the enemies that had taken the younger marine down.

They made short work of the drones and moved forward, Shepard setting an almost punishing pace as she climbed the slope, stopping only for a upgrade kit she knew was waiting at the top of the hill and grabbing out a clip of amour piercing rounds. More drones blocked their path, but now forewarned, they went down quickly, leaving the path clear to a familiar clearing and a form running through the grass toward the rock formation that stood between them.

Shepard, was comforted by the sight somewhat. Last time, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams had already been behind cover and returning fire at the Geth.

A second later, the battle was over before it had even had a chance to begin and suddenly, they were saddled with two survivors instead of just the one.

Ashley took one look at the N7 type amour and relaxed before shooting straight into a salute. Not far off, the civilian that had almost been impaled on the Dragon's teeth device was sitting against it, his hand to his heart and clearly in shock. Shepard had shot out the optics of both the Geth about to kill him.

"M'am!" Williams saluted sounding off her name and rank as quickly as she could. Under her visor Shepard smiled as she quickly took stock of the situation.

"Jenkins!" She snapped out after she made a show of asking Ashley about the area. "You grab the civilian. Bring him along behind us at a safe distance and take him to the dig site, there's a good chance that there's going to be more survivors hiding there. If there are, I want them all together. Williams, you know the way, you're with us. We need to move quick."

She started off at a jog leaving Jenkins and the man as she revelled in the sudden feeling of 'right' that came from having her two most trusted subordinates and friends at her back once more. They cleared the Geth, but when it became evident that the beacon had already been moved from the area Shepard didn't even stop to talk. Cleaning out the Husks in the excavation camp took longer than expected as well, but as she watched her mission clock Shepard didn't even stop to think about the locked accommodation container that stood at the top of the hill. The area beyond was eerily empty of Geth as she turned the next bend and nearly froze in her tracks.

In the docking yard visible in the distance were a pair of Turians.

She didn't even think. Her assault rifle clicked to her amour, still folding even as her Sniper rifle appeared in her grasp. With a lifetime of practice and tips from some of the best known snipers and assassins in the galaxy she snapped up the rifle, sighted on the fly and shot, praying she was on time.

Oh god she prayed she was on time.

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><p>There was a disorienting moment as blood splattered along the ground as the situation sank in.<p>

He'd been shot

By Who?

From Behind?

Saren!

Nihlus turned around, his arm aching painfully as he span on his talons and gaped at the vision before him. Saren was nursing a bleeding hand, spitting murder, a smoking pistol on the ground at his feet with a sparking hole through the master grade metal and following the line of the shot Nihlus found the last surprise of the last few moments standing atop the hill a good way off, holding a sniper rifle aimed at the other Turian still, even as she and her team began to scramble down the hillside as fast as possible.

Still stunned slightly he barely had the mind to roll with the blow as Saren surged past him, cursing up a storm. He barked out orders in their native language and suddenly the air around him was streaked with plasma bolts and bullets. Nihlus dragged himself into cover behind a few crates and looked up in time to see the other shooters that were returning fire on Shepard and her team.

They were Geth!

He found his gun, but decided to wait as the three humans systematically obliterated the Geth under Shepard's direction and not for the first time since meeting her, he found himself impressed. Not only was she an outstanding soldier, one even he could respect, but she had just inadvertently saved his life.

The thought made him frown.

What had made her shoot the other spectre? How had she known, if those orders he made where anything to go by, that he'd had anything to do with the attack? When even he'd had no idea. Saren had been a friend for a long time, but for that kind of betrayal? There was something very wrong with the situation.

So he waited.

Shepard eventually found him. He didn't ask how or why as she had the sentinel in her team, Alenko, cover his arm in medigel. The numbing agents went to work and the pain he'd been somewhat ignoring faded as the woman finally seemed to calm down for the first time since they'd assembled in the cargo bay of the Normandy. Her pale eyes gleamed triumphantly, but over what, he didn't know. Still, they where all surprised when she said she wanted to go back and check on Jenkins.

"We have time." Was all she said.

After sniffing out a dock worker that had been napping behind some crates when the attack began they followed her back up the hill and into the camp, only to find that a pair of scientists had appeared along with the man they'd saved and Jenkins. One of the scientists, a man, was crying out hysterically at the others, ranting darkly about invaders and the end of time and how there was no hope for any of them. Shepard simply strode up to him, took him by the shoulders and murmured something to the distraught man that calmed him down almost immediately. A few odd looks and a hushed conversation later the man settled back beside his female companion, silent and smiling with not a word of doom to be heard.

Not for the first time Nihlus looked at Shepard and began to wonder if she could read minds... or some other sort of talent that they hadn't known about. But he remained, standing behind the group silently, watching the new puzzle laid out before him.

There was something strange about Alliance Commander Jane Shepard and damned if he wasn't going to get to the bottom of it.

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><p>After rescuing Nihlus they'd sent the few survivors and Jenkins with him back to the Normandy. Shepard and her team had continued on as before, defusing bombs and destroying Geth as Saren's flagship took off in the background. It wasn't until they reached the Beacon itself that the events as she'd remembered them took an uncertain turn. Just like before, Kaiden had been attracted by some element of the Beacon, he'd been dragged toward it before Shepard had heard Ashley shout. Not thinking, she'd run toward her lieutenant and grabbed him, ready to pull him out of the way,. but she couldn't, the Beacon grabbed them both and she felt the Prothean's warning replaying in her head.<p>

Somewhere to her left Kaiden was screaming.

The vision suddenly cut off and she went to her knees in shock at the sudden detachment before gasping cries made her roll over to see Kaiden staring up at the sky blankly. The Beacon made a worrying sound and without a second thought she rolled herself on top of him, covering his body with her own as the Prothean device exploded. Debris splattered against her back and she finally looked up to see Ash's pale face looking back in horror as she pushed herself up from her passed out Lieutenant's body.

"Commander?" she asked, somewhat weakly and Shepard grunted faintly, quickly checking Kaiden for the signs she knew would be there before she went about checking herself. In spite of the tug she felt in one shoulder nothing seemed damaged and she got to her feet, one hand going to her earpiece.

"Normandy? This is Commander Shepard. Joker, I'm requesting immediate evac. We lost the beacon and Lieutenant Alenko is down." There was a crackle of static and a stream of curses as Anderson confirmed her request and had them brought aboard. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder Shepard picked up Kaiden herself and carried him all the way to sick bay, ignoring the marines stationed by the cargo doors ready to help.

She unconsciously returned the favour Alenko had done for her the first time around.

It wasn't until her Lieutenant was down and sleeping that Chakwas finally turned on her and the tug she'd felt in her shoulder? Turned out to be a glowing metal fragment of the beacon.

Aurora honestly hadn't felt a thing.

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><p>It wasn't long before Anderson came down to the sickbay, Nihlus in tow.<p>

"Shepard! What the hell just happened down there? Williams was saying that you both got caught up in a ME field right before the Beacon exploded." She ignored him at first, her eyes still on the Lieutenant from where she sat on her own medi-bed. Her shoulder was well on the way to healing from the micro surgery they'd had to perform to remove the Beacon shard, but her arm was in a sling while she wasn't using it.

"I-" she began but then stopped, her brow furrowing as she thought about what she'd tell the Captain. Anderson was a valuable ally. One she'd needed in the past... or future as it was. She stared harder at Kaiden, like he'd sit up and tell her what he was thinking, but he didn't move. Finally she let out a sigh, rubbing her face with her good hand in genuine exhaustion.

"Honestly sir, I have no idea." She closed her eyes to avoid the two men's curious gazes. "The beacon... I think it was trying to tell us something. I got a pretty clear picture of organics and Synthetics waring with each other before the field gave out. There might have been more to what I saw as well, but I don't think I have all of the message." She opened her eyes again, looking over at Kaiden and making it clear where she thought the other half had gone. Nihlus was giving her a look that screamed of "raised eyebrow" as he looked between them.

"You seem to be taking this much better than the Staff Lieutenant." He commented, making Shepard frown again. She hadn't thought about how she'd explain the sudden fact that she already had the entire message and it's translation matrix in her brain.

"Maybe it had time to stabilise in my mind and not his." she shrugged not offering anything more. Anderson rumbled in discontent and requested a verbal report of their entire time on the ground. Aurora made her report quickly, telling him in short terms how they'd moved fast through the first few areas, how they'd met up with Williams and switched out the teams. She reported seeing Nihlus and someone pointing a gun at his back and had taken actions to prevent his death. She'd reported subduing a distraught survivor and the taking down of the Geth. When she got to the part about the Beacon she'd told them how Kaiden had been dragged in by it and how she'd attempted to get him out only to be pulled in by the same force.

After that Anderson had left, citing paperwork and the need to report to the council. Nihlus however stayed behind, leaning against the med bay wall and staring at her as she continued her vigil over Kaiden.

"I'm guessing you know more than you're saying." The Turian came right out and said his suspicions as he watched. The only sign she'd heard was the furrow in her brow. "You knew that Saren would betray me, didn't you. It's to much of a coincidence that you'd be there on the hill in time to snipe his gun from his hands. I've read your file a hundred times, and while you're a brilliant sniper in your own right, you never would have managed to pull off a shot like that. Williams said you managed to do it on the fly. You didn't even use the scope. It was like you already knew what and where you were going to shoot." His stare burned into the side of her head.

"... the Beacon didn't affect me." She finally said, still unmoving. "Because I've got something in my head, something I never told anyone about."

He waited for her to continue, but it soon became obvious that she'd require prompting.

"Like what Shepard?" He asked.

"My parents... they were spacers before they had me. They retired to the Mindoir colony shortly after I was born. I grew up there, spending most of my childhood climbing all over the planet." A faint ghost of a smile stole across her face as she spoke. Fond memories of running through fields, fighting with boys and getting lost in the woods all streaming back. "One night, I was out in the forests, camping. It wasn't an unusual occurrence. I did it all the time even at the age of ten. I found a cave, one that I soon began to explore and eventually, I found my "Hidden Treasure"." She couldn't raise her arms but the words where clearly emphasized. "I didn't know what I'd found. All I knew was that it was shinny, that it made my head tingle when I touched it, and that it was mine. No one else knew, or even suspected that it existed."

"It wasn't until a good few months later that I started to have the dreams. At first it was small, like I'd dream of the colony from above and then end up going over it in a plane the next day. I'd imagine foods that felt real in my sleep, only to find out it was what we'd have for dinner that night. It carried on for six years. I thought nothing of it. It was pure coincidence. Until one night, I dreamt of the colony under attack. In my nightmare, Batarians' killed my family, stole my friends. Scared, I stole a rifle from my father's gun locker and ran toward the cave. I took a nap and woke in time to leave it before a stray shot from a passing ship caught the rocks above and caused a cave in, destroying my device.

"I ran back to the colony, only to find slavers everywhere. I played gorilla against them for three days before the Alliance finally arrived." She lapsed into silence as on the next bed Kaiden began to stir. His face clearly crumpled in pain. She hopped off the medi-bed and crossed the gap, laying a hand on the Lieutenants brow carefully and gently cooing him back to sleep. Nihlus looked on impassively as the marine visibly relaxed and eased back into sleep.

"You were agitated this morning when you joined us on the bridge." Nihlus recalled. "You dreamt of my death?" he concluded in a question.

"Jenkins wouldn't have lived through the first engagement." Was all she said.

It was obvious he would get nothing more from her.

Finally, after a long moment of silence he pushed off the wall.

"So do you know what he'll need?" He asked at last. Shepard frowned.

"It was incomplete. He didn't see the entire picture. His mind, while strong, isn't quite as strong as it could be." Finally, she turned to look at him, her eyes burning with a fierce determination that bore into his soul like a laser.

"I need to be a spectre."

Standing suddenly in her shadow he felt it. A power he doubted even he could fight against. It was a wave of pure will that soaked through every part of the room making her seem like the brightest star in the galaxy, and Nihlus totally and utterly believed her.

"I'll do my best." He managed to gasp out and all but fled the room. As he reached the door though, he looked over his shoulder, only to find the Spectre Candidate already turning her attention back to her crewmate. She stood silently in spite of her injuries, but the hard set of her shoulders was betrayed by the expression on her face.

It could only be described as love. Nihilus didn't have to be human to see that.

He turned and left.

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><p>"Do you hear me marine?" The voice, while complete was distant in comparison to the headache blooming behind his eyes. He ignored it, hands going to the bridge of his nose where he tried to massage away the pain before it became a migraine.<p>

"Lieutenant Alenko." The same voice again...

"Kaiden..." His attention snapped up abruptly at the last word, hearing his name whispered so intimately he wanted to know who was talking only to find himself staring into the pale eyes of his commanding officer.

"Shepard...?" He managed to grind out, wincing. The room around them was blessedly dark with only a few soft lamps on in the back office for illumination. He recognized the Med bay of the Normandy. Shepard's hands felt his forehead, pleasantly warm against his skin and he let himself be menuvered around until she could sit on the edge of the bed with her forehead against his.

"What do you remember?" She asked in a whisper and he nearly didn't answer.

"The... Beacon?" He asked after a moment. "I felt... pulled, toward it, somehow..." He frowned and focused on the feel of her skin to stave off the pain. Her breath fanned his cheek and neck as she spoke.

"After you approached the beacon, I noticed, but when I went to pull you back, both of us were caught in a ME field. Did you dream too?" She asked, making him frown.

"Geth... something, was destroying people... worlds? It was a... Warning? A memory? I don't understand." Shepard took his face in her hands.

"You don't have too." She answered his confusion. "At least not yet. You have to stay strong Kaiden, for both our sakes." Her eyes pleaded with him. "Your mind will be strained, like with your Biotics. It's trying to understand what you're suddenly seeing, but it's like reading the bible in another language and most of the pages are missing."

"How do you know?" The thought was one of the few that made it through the haze. She smiled softly.

"Because it's what found its way into my head too. We were both in that field." Alenko stared at her for the longest time, the pain fading bit by bit as her fingers traced his face and suddenly he couldn't stay upright. She grinned at him.

"Get some sleep Kaiden. We'll have enough trouble when we get to the citadel."

And he did... this time though, it was thankfully. dreamless.

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><p>"Hey Chakwas! He's awake!" Next time he woke, the voice beside his bed was different.<p>

"Oh? Well, good morning Alenko, sleep well? How do you feel after your little nap?" The older woman that served as medic, doctor and Nurse aboard the Normandy appeared at his bedside as he opened his eyes, only to find that the first speaker had been the woman they'd picked up down on the planet. Williams? was it?

"Everything's a little fuzzy." he answered sitting up, "I feel like I should be in pain, but I don't have any for some reason." His eyes drifted across the med bay again only to stop on the still form of Commander Shepard laying on her side on the bed nearby, the back of her shirt stained red near the shoulder. Williams followed his gaze and smirked.

"The commander was worried about you." She elbowed him gently. "She tried to pull you out of the Beacon's way, and when it finally let you go she used herself as a shield to keep you from getting hurt when the Beacon exploded. THEN, she picked you up and brought you all the way back here. She didn't even notice she was bleeding out until we told her. After she was patched up, she then spent the last day sitting on the bed watching over you. I was impressed. She seems to be really dedicated to her crew." There was a wistful tone to her voice as she finished speaking, her own eyes on Shepard's sleeping form now.

"A good thing that may be," Chakwas interrupted. "But when it gets to the point that I need to sedate her to make sure she gets some sleep then it's a little ridiculous." Alenko blushed faintly at the undertone in Ashley's voice and ducked his head away from the commanding officer at the one in Chakwas's.

"It's the thought that counts." He muttered. Ash snickered and finally the subject dropped as he was told to report to Anderson when he was cleared for duty.

Shepard woke a few hours later as they arrived in the Widow Nebula and was present on the bridge when they docked on the inner ring of the citadel. She didn't say anything to Kaiden about the time in the med bay, instead she was bent over a computer terminal with the still injured Nihlus, plotting away. They looked remarkably similar at that moment, both in slings, with opposite limbs doing the lifting for each other. If you grafted Shepard's right side to Nihlus' left, you'd have one fully functioning being. It was funny enough that Joker had even come down from the cockpit, hobbling on crutches to see them working. Kaiden felt a little put out at the image but didn't quite understand why.

Eventually, Anderson ordered them to suit up to head out into the citadel. The ground team, Sans Jenkins, was going to the Ambassadorial suite's on the inner ring while Nihlus went to make his own report to his superiors.

As usual, Udina was a charming ray of sunshine, meaning he grumbled and raved the entire time they where there and ordered them to attend the meeting in the Citadel tower rather bitterly when Shepard was actually requested. It pissed him off further when they requested she speak first also, ignoring the minister.

"It came as a shock. We'd expected our agent to take much more time in evaluating you for future promotion, however your actions on Eden Prime have taken most, if not all of the evaluators by surprise. The reports say you've been into contact with Prothean technology on a smaller scale before now?" The Asari speaker asked examining the highlighted report on the terminal before her. Shepard stepped forward for a moment, hesitated, then nodded, making even Anderson look at her like she was insane.

"Yes. The technology was a device found on my home colony, Mindoir. And I believe it was the only one of its kind." she spoke. The Turian was giving her a sceptical look.

"What exactly did this device do?" He asked, noting the moment of hesitation. Shepard resisted the urge to shrug non-comically.

"I don't know. I found it when I was ten. A couple of years before it was destroyed in the raid on the colony. In that time it didn't actively do anything but I think there was a passive function that altered something in my brain chemistry." The Salarian looked more than a little intrigued. They were an inquisitive race. One who enjoyed the mental challenge of mysteries more often than not.

"Why wasn't this picked up before now then? Surely any alterations would have been discovered in testing." Shepard frowned.

"I believe that its purpose didn't become evident until I interacted with the Beacon on Eden Prime." She lied, and although in the Audience, Nihlus knew the truth as she'd told it, he almost believed that what she's just said was more true. Suddenly, he realised that she was even more dangerous than he thought. Not only was she skilled in military practices and talented in predicting the future she was also charismatic enough to lie straight-faced to the council about an ability she'd had since she was a child. And no one questioned her.

"Hmmm, it is true that even we Asari have trouble deciphering the mental leanings of the Prothean technology. Mayhap the device was a mental primer of sorts. A translation matrix? In any case, such a skill would be invaluable to future projects between the Alliance and the Council." She turned her attention back to Shepard fully. "So please, explain what the beacon contained before its destruction." Shepard frowned again, and suddenly the mood of the room dropped a few pegs on the scale.

"It was a distress beacon." She said darkly, thinking back over the past and the problems it had caused. "Although my understanding wasn't perfect, I did derive a message in the images it left behind. The Beacon was broken, but it left a warning."

"A Warning?" The Turian councillor questioned.

"A Warning." Shepard confirmed her face stony and grim. "We all know that the Protheans somehow vanished around 50 thousand years ago. We've always theorised that they up and left on their own but the Beacon was telling me otherwise. The contents described them as being hunted... Wiped out." That got a few stunned blinks.

"You claim they were driven to extinction?" The Asari councillor asked, more than a little stunned. Shepard nodded shortly.

"From what little information I've dug up in the journey back to the citadel, there are a few elements that fit the theory. The Beacon described synthetics as the cause of their extinction. They weren't Geth, or remotely like them, but they were old sentient Machines, likely an AI or a divertive of one. We have encountered mentions of so called Reapers before. What was on that beacon though was horrific. Whoever made the beacon, wanted us to know just how much trouble they were in."

There was a faintly horrified air to the room and the people in it as she finished speaking, forwarding the reports and the evidence she'd hastily gathered from remembered positions to support her claims. Then, just when she knew she had them on the edge of believing she hit them with the final shocker.

"From the images in the Beacon and the reports in your files, I believe that there may be something on the way back into our galaxy." She paused dramatically for effect.

"I think there may have been a Reaper on Eden Prime."

Chaos exploded

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><p>AN: Yet another one of the plot bunnies floating around my hard drive. In mass effect you can use the same character and play through the game again with all your exp and equipment intact, this is pretty much a "What if Shepard remembered the last play through?" scenario. It's almost completely non-cannon and in this story she spent most of the time lying through her teeth, but it all kinda fits in... kinda. Either way, it's totally AU. : )

Don't forget to Review.

Cya


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Mass Effect or any of its sequels. Unfortunately, it's all Bioware's stuff. *sulks*<p>

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><p>Reboot<p>

By: Mage-Alia

Chapter 2

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><p>Summary: Shepard died, one day in the future, and somehow managed to wake up, right back at the beginning... A 'What if' where Commander Shepard remembered the last Play through...<p>

(Now not so Implied) femshep/Kaiden relationship.

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><p>AN: It wouldn't leave me alone... the plot bunny's been camped out in my head and I find myself adding to it...

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><p>After the chaos of the council chamber the Council itself had decided to suspend the issue for later as they convened to discuss the claims. Shepard wasn't all that concerned about the development. Instead, after neatly avoiding Nihlus' attempt at an intercept she left the tower fully intent on getting a few things done. Her first stop however was a clinic in the wards.<p>

The door had been locked, but a quick override from her omnitool had her in before the two people on the other side of the room could react. Their reactions where immediate, for even though she was in a containment unit being assisted by a quarantine suited doctor, Tali rolled out of the Medi-bed and grabbed her pistol, bringing it to bare on the trio with startling speed.

"Who are you!"

Shepard put her hands in the air, gesturing just as quickly for the others to keep theirs off their guns while she took a step forward.

Okay... she hadn't expected this.

She'd half been expecting Garrus and the hostage situation of last time when she'd chosen to come here first instead of going through Harken. But she realised that out of all the events to take place, it had taken her at least three hours to come here after the meeting last time.

It had barely been thirty minutes.

Tali wasn't wearing all of her suit. She was clad in the skin tight compression skin that went under her envirosuit, with the drapes and shawls common amongst the Quarians wrapped around her torso for modesty's sake. A needle and thread hung from a partially repaired tear on it's side and the rest of the outfit was slung over a bench covered in tools specifically made to repair Quarian gear. Other medical supplies and sterile marked wrappings quickly reminded Shepard of why she'd even been here in the first place.

Suit breach.

The first time around she'd been here to get treated for a minor suit breach. She'd been shot at escaping Geth and Sarens men and while the wound itself had been easily treated and sealed, she'd had to seek a sterile medical facility in order to make the repairs.

"Woah." Shepard breathed out, keeping her voice level and calm. "Before you go shooting and breaking your containment, listen." carefully, the N7 put her arms down, turning on her omnitool and activating a program to display her details. "My name is Alliance Commander Aurora Shepard Vas Normandy." She used the Quarian term for crew more out of habit than any actual design, although it's use didn't go unnoticed. Tali almost jumped out of her skin in shock. "I am here, looking for you, because news spreads fast aboard the citadel. I am doing an investigation into the Spectre known as Saren, and there's been a rumour that you have access to damning evidence that could help us get him convicted of Treason against the Council and his Spectre status revoked."

Tali kept her gun trained on her, and Shepard took the chance to examine her face for the first time in either timeline. She had wide, blue eyes that glowed with an almost electronic shine, only just a little smaller than those of a Solarian except more birdlike in shape as opposed to amphibian. Her hair was ashen blonde, cut short and flattened in places against her narrow skull, the result of having a helmet on 24/7 and while her features looked somewhat humanoid, they were as sharp as they were delicate, her nose a throwback to their Avian ancestors. Eventually, she lowered her weapon below the level of the bench and Shepard, along with the doctor in the room with her breathed a sigh of relief.

In response, Shepard lowered her arms again, making sure to put them on the bench top beside the quarantine shield, in full view of the girl.

"So, will you offer me protection from Saren's men as well?" She asked, placing her gun within easy reach and going for her tools in order to continue her repairs.

"If that's what you want." Shepard said honestly.

"It's not what I want." The quarian answered reluctantly. "But even I know when I'm in over my head." the doctor moved back in and finished the patching on the skin suit before sealing it shut with an airtight glue. Turning to acknowledge Kaiden and Ashley for the first time Shepard waved them closer.

"Ash, you stay here and watch the entrance. Expect trouble. Lieutenant? Go remote hack the video feeds for the halls outside and keep an eye out for anyone armed, inform me if you see anyone suspicious."

"Aye' M'am." They both saluted and Kaiden disappeared while Ashley made herself comfortable. Shepard went back to watching Tali.

"So if it's not to much to ask, What is your name?" She knew already, but Tali didn't know that. The girl stared at her before answering, this time, with very little hostility.

"It's Tali, Tali'zora Na Rayya."

"It's Nice to meet you Tali."

They kept up the small talk while Tali and the Doctor worked. Shepard taking to opportunity to find out as much as she could about the situation that she'd missed the last time round before they finally finished the repairs and Tali was encased back in her suit, the Shawls all back in place over the filtering equipment.

Michel was just disabling the quarantine shield and shedding her own suit when Kaiden came running back into the room.

"Incoming!" He called, pulling up a video image on his omnitool to show a group of armed men that the Commander was not all surprised to recognise. "This is an image from the hall over, with the rate they're moving they'll be here in a minute or so." Shepard just nodded like she'd been expecting it and eyed Tali's weapon.

"I take it you're good with that thing?" The quarian gave a short bark of laughter and brought her weapon to bear on the door without a word. Gesturing the only non-combatant in the room to one side behind a desk Kaiden and Ash flanked the door, while Tali took cover elsewhere. Leaving Shepard out in the open as the men barrelled through the door, only to pull up short at her gun and baulk when they turned to find the other two marines pointing theirs.

"Going somewhere gentlemen?"

It didn't take them long to give in.

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><p>It was during the process of handing over Fist's thugs to C-Sec that Shepard found more familiar faces.<p>

Garrus Vakarian had been on his way to investigate the rumours of the Quarian that Shepard had never heard personally when he came across the situation in the clinic. Walking in the open door he wasn't expecting to be waylaid by a handful of edgy warriors. including the Quarian he'd been looking for.

He swore in his own language before the woman that appeared to be their leader ordered the others to stand down.

"Funny, I was just about to call in C-Sec. I guess this saves me the trouble." Garrus blinked and glared briefly before he caught sight of the human's amour. The N7 specialisation had been registered as the equivalent of the Turian Special Forces when the humans had first joined the galactic community after the contact wars and if one was here it could only mean one thing.

Alliance Investigation.

He cursed again for good measure.

It figured that the ones laying charges on Saren alongside the Spectre Nihlus would be investigating just like he was. He'd seen Nihlus in C-Sec on his way through, one arm bound tightly and in a sling even though he wore armour. Rumours had been going around that he'd been shot by another spectre. Others said that it was the humans that did it and blamed it on Saren but having been chosen as the chump to attempt to investigate the claims, Garrus knew better.

"You work quickly." He admitted grudgingly a moment later after he'd called in backup to deal with the cuffed thugs. The N7 Smirked at him, her expression daring him to do something about it. They followed him all the way back to the Academy where it wasn't until a Krogan entered the main hall being 'escorted' by a number of armed officers that Shepard's knowing gaze turned from Garrus.

The officers were having stern words with the Krogan, but the Krogan wasn't even listening. He'd been fixated on Shepard the entire time.

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><p>It appeared that where ever Shepard went, she had an almost magical aptitude for bringing the most obscure pieces of the puzzle into line. Five hours after she'd left the tower she'd returned in short order with Tali in tow to present her evidence to further her case against the Reapers.<p>

She barely mentioned Saren.

The council, heavily swayed by her charm, ended up granting her Spectre status right out of the blue. The only one not Surprised, was Nihlus. They gave her the task of tracking Saren and bringing him in alongside her new primary mission of finding evidence on the reapers. Anderson and Udina, in a mostly anticipated move, assigned her the Normandy as her ship.

Shepard, immediately made a number of unprecedented crew requests before she even left the council tower.

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><p>An Asari waited outside the doors of the tower elevator, dressed in the shimmering pink uniform of the consort's attendants as they exited.<p>

"Commander Shepard." She nodded regally and gestured her along toward a waiting vehicle. "I've been bid to bring you before my Lady, she has been looking forward to meeting you for days now." It was the timing that made Shepard sit up and take notice, more so than the alien experience of being summoned. This had most certainly not happened last time. Still, without a word to the Asari, or her companions, she climbed into the hover car, gesturing them in after her.

"Please relax, we will be arriving shortly." The Asari assured them before a screen went up between them and the driver, leaving the two marines and an N7 operative sitting in silence.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why the hell would you have the consort sending cars for you?" Ashley broke the tense silence and Shepard sighed.

"I don't know." She slumped slightly in her seat, avoiding the mildly disapproving look that Kaiden was giving her before he winced slightly, holding his head when he thought they weren't looking, but Shepard knew... she always knew...

The ride was over quickly, and they stepped out into a private receiving bay where a blue skinned woman awaited them, clad in the same uniform pink dress as the attendant but with a shimmering robe over the top, the consort was just another Asari. They'd run errands for some of her attendants as part of Shepard's frantic run around earlier in the day, but usually it took months just to even get an appointment to MAKE an appointment.

As Shepard pulled herself out of the hover car and settled into a parade rest the Asari easily crossed the room and without any prompt or ceremony, hugged her. Kaiden and Ash could only stare dumbfound as the Consort moved back to arms length, holding onto Shepard's gloved hands as she examined her closely.

"You barely change. Even after all those years... it's difficult to imagine you with scars anymore." The commander's scared lip twitched into a smile in response.

"What? These old things? I guess I'll be getting rid of them sooner or later..." The Asari's eyes turned sad.

"Must that really have to happen? Your scars are quite... handsome?" Blue fingers traced one on her cheek and Shepard shrugged.

"I don't know." Was all she said.

Amongst the attendants, the two marines weren't the only one's confused. The conversation before them was... almost surreal. Their commanding officer was speaking to one of the most influential beings of the citadel like she'd known her since forever, and it didn't come across as strange? Still they followed a few steps behind when the commander linked arms with the consort and began to stroll out of the receiving bay and into a small garden set aside for the Consort's use.

"There has been much upheaval as of late." The Consort spoke as she guided Shepard to a bench. "I have heard new whispers in these past few days and I had wondered if you had something to do with it." The soldier's mouth twisted back into a satisfied smirk.

"So much as already changed." Shiera nodded wisely.

"A troubled past, but a certain future, only a catalyst of change stands any hope of bring about a different path. Are you ready for such responsibility?" Shepard's face fell, her expression becoming grim.

"I was ready a long time ago."

The garden fell silent as the pair looked away from each other and into the distance, though eventually Shiera spoke once more as she stood from the bench, eyes seeking out the present Marines before crinkling in a smile.

"It is such a pity that you never stay." Her voice was lit with amusement. Shepard looked back at her, eyes showing a startled surprise. Following her gaze back to her men she suddenly scowled.

"You know that's none of your business." The Consort laughed, dispelling the tense air almost completely.

"Just remember your words and mine." She spoke a clear reminder, but of what, no one but Shepard knew. The N7 operative scowled at her openly. "And if you ever require my assistance, know that I will help." she focused on Kaiden. "He will need it before long." Shepard's face went blank and unreadable.

And then finally she spoke.

"I'll see you in a few months."

Shiera turned back to the bench, lifting Shepard's hands and making the woman rise. "Of course you will." She said, light heartedly, before kissing her on both cheeks and letting go. Then without another word she turned and left the garden.

Shepard watched her go before she and the marines were ushered back to the hover car and escorted back to the Embassies.

Ash and Kaiden looked at each other, then at Shepard's back and shrugged.

The Commander was the Commander, and she did whatever the fuck she wanted.

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><p>It hadn't really been an issue at first.<p>

New crewmembers had been expected, and welcomed with open arms as the squad all settled into their places aboard the Normandy.

What she hadn't expected was for it to feel so crowded.

Shepard sighed, her head falling back against the wall as she sat huddled deep inside the inner workings of the Normandy's server module. After years of working alongside Legion and EDI repairing and tinkering with computer systems, the innards of the second Normandy had become somewhat of a sanctuary when she'd needed a place out of the way of the rest of the crew. They couldn't disturb her here like they could if she was in her quarters or on the CIC deck. Nihlus had commandeered the coms room as an office and was constantly in communication with other contacts that 'held up the line'. He'd been assigned to the Normandy by the council as her backup after they'd made her a Spectre for the dual purpose of assisting her investigation into Saren and supervising her probationary period.

Unlike in the past where she'd blundered her way into the position after much political menuvering on Udina's part, this time she'd strongarmed her own way into the Spectres, making them slightly wary as to her agenda. Thus Nihlus' presence on board where he hadn't been an issue before.

Aside from a few new faces, there was also the issue of space.

Last time, the Normandy had enough room to accommodate the extra squad members, if only just. She'd been spoiled by the space on the SR-2 and quite forgotten what it had been like before the... Accident, but she'd been called on two out of five times to sort out room issues with the crew. The current Wrex, having been hired independently after a dubious conversation about theoretical clan politics and Krogan recognised Battlemaster markings, was having trouble coexisting with a hot headed Garrus who'd been ordered onto the squad via Executor Palin who in turn was conspiring with Tali about how to smuggle Turian and Quarian friendly foods on board that didn't taste like absolute crap. Not to mention that Ash and some of the other human crew hadn't taken well with the Alien invasion...

All the activity made her yearn for the days when problems could be solved by individual conversations with her crew and they'd already formed the vital bonds of battle comrades that made their unit one of the best.

Shaking off her daydreams of better times Shepard pulled herself upright against the wall and pulled the skeletal keyboard jacked into the SR-1's computer back into her lap as she went about programming in software upgrades. While she wasn't a great wiz with computers overall, if it had something to do with the Normandy, then there was nothing that could make her forget it. Especially after EDI had taken the time to imprint virtually everything there was to know about both models of ship into her brain. Thus, having been focused intently on her memories, she hadn't realised that she had company till a hand came out of no where and typed in a few commands on her keyboard, causing the coding she'd been puzzling over to finally fit into place.

"You had the X and Y indices reversed."

She stared at the screen, and to all outward appearance, she was absorbed in the program, but the way her heart was beating in her chest told another story as the person beside her brought up another topic she'd been tentively avoiding.

"I didn't think anyone else knew about this place." She finally admitted, not quite daring enough to look directly at Kaiden who had plugged his omnitool into another monitor and started to run diagnostics. The space was small and cramped and one had to crawl through a good twenty feet of service ducts to reach it. The Normandy's Technical Officer gave her a crooked sort of smile.

"The auxiliary interfaces are down here." He looked pointedly at the terminal she was plugged into. "Besides, it's a quiet place to think. Good for when I start to get a Migraine." Aurora looked at his face after that comment and sure enough she recognised the signs written all over his face after years of knowing him and couldn't help the hand that reached out for his cheek.

"It's the dump from the Beacon, isn't it."

Kaiden looked mildly uncomfortable as he wavered, torn, between accepting the comfort and turning away, aware that she was now his commanding officer.

"I haven't been getting much sleep." He finally admitted in defeat. "Every time I close my eyes I see it replaying behind my eyelids but I can't- I can't make any sense of it." He moved his head out of her range and cradled it in his own hands, wincing.

A few taps of her keyboard later, Shepard's work was saved and the screen that had been the only light in the small space, shut itself down. Then, in the dark where no one could see, she shifted closer to Kaiden and pulled him in. He didn't resist as she directed his head to her shoulder and made herself comfortable.

"Get some rest Marine." She instructed him quietly. "You'll be no good to anyone if you don't."

In another time, the presence of another person had always managed to calm her nightmares.

It was another favour she'd gladly return.

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><p>AN: Meh, some of the same events... just happening in different ways, although this one was a bit more vague, as most of it was from other characters views... I guess. Anyway, this chapter's about six pages shorter than the first one but considering I wasn't intending to continue this in the first place it's not exactly a bad thing... I'm just writing it in dribs and drabs anyway. Once again, there's no real editing (and/or beta'ing).

Don't forget to review.

Cya


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